In preparation for the release of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream to the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 16, Nintendo recently released a demo version of the game. As a long-anticipated sequel of the 2014 3DS game Tomodachi Life, which follows a similar gameplay style, the official release date of the new addition to the Tomodachi Life world was announced in the January Nintendo Direct.
The game allows players to oversee an island and populate it with fully customizable characters, called Miis. Features allow for alterations to be made to each Mii’s hair, clothes, voice and personality, as well as draw finer details onto their faces by hand, making room for creativity to resemble friends, family, celebrities and anything the player’s imagination can come up with.
The demo, called the “Welcome Version,” was announced and released on March 25 to give players a taste of what’s to come for the full release.
“Haven’t played the first game, but this one, the demo seemed pretty fun,” said Joshua Raynor, a senior esports major. “There was a lot of character customization and I’m just looking forward to that as well.”
Nico Violante-Fletcher, a sophomore arts and creative technology major, said, “It looks really good, it looks really fun. I like how much freedom you have now in the game. In the original Tomodachi Life, you didn’t have as much choices as you do now. It just seems really fun.”
Some of the most notable differences between the games include the additions of customizability in the Miis’ genders, sexualities and pronouns. While the first game’s character creation had a binary choice of male and female with each gender’s traditional pronouns automatically attached, the new game introduced a nonbinary option, as well as they/them pronouns, with the ability to change pronouns independently of gender identity.
“I’m a huge fan of customization in video games,” said Violante-Fletcher. “Like, literally every game I play, even if it’s not the main focus, I always go for that.”
Aside from the customization options, the game also offers a wide variety of random encounters between Miis, which serve as opportunities to build and grow relationships between the custom characters. These relationships can range from a simple friendship to something a little more romantic, and different relationship milestones are accompanied by randomized cutscenes. Certain interactions also rely on player input for content, as well as to determine the outcome. Players online wasted no time in seeing how far they could test the limits of what their Miis can and can’t discuss.
“I feel pretty good about the game itself,” said Raynor. “I mean, the interactions, the NPC dialogues, they’re all pretty fun.”
Through making choices for the development of their own island of custom residents, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream leaves players at the helm of their own gaming experience, while still leaving room for occasional surprises. This unique style of play leaves players to continue anticipating the game’s full release.
